His Alpha
by El loopy
Summary: She was his Alpha. A collection of drabbles/oneshots with the pairing of Maddy x Rhydian set throughout the series.
1. Teach me

Teach me

"You can play piano?"

Rhydian whipped his hands away from the keys, startled by Maddy's sudden presence behind him.

The last notes echoed around the empty school hall from the much-aged instrument, wheeled out on occasion for special performances.

"Used to," he responded with a flash of a grin, trying to hide the awkward knot in his stomach.

"Sounded a bit more than used to," Maddy teased with a tilt of her head and the boy shrugged, eyes serious suddenly, a finger trailing absently over the keys.

"Not much use for a piano when you're a wolf."

Maddy dismissed the statement as though shaking out her fur and dropped herself onto the bench next to him, looking expectant.

"Well, c'mon then."

"What?" his face creased, then cleared with an almost can't-believe-this smile. "You want me to play."

"Noooo," she drew out with a taste of sarcasm before breaking it with a grin, her voice softening. "Course I want you to play." She nudged him with her shoulder in the cramped space on the stool adding even more quietly, "and then I want you to teach me."

The air shifted subtly, enough for even mere humans to notice. A sudden awareness of everywhere his leg pressed against hers, her shoulder leaning into his, but mostly the way their eyes expressed so much without the need for words. Rhydian let out his breath in an exhale he'd not realised he was holding and smiled, wholly gentle and wholly genuine.

"Yeah, all right."


	2. Lupus

**A/N This one is set during season 3. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited, and for the prompt. It is currently a work in progress. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this one. **

* * *

Lupus

Rhydian lifted his head and howled, his anguish tearing into the freezing night. Above him the stars glinted in the clear sky and he remembered the feel of Maddy's hand tucked snugly in his own. Fitting there like it belonged.

* * *

"_See that one,"_ she said to him, a brilliant grin lighting up her face in delight. Her face was uplifted to the night, arm pointing into the inky black, as her head tilted back at him to make sure he was looking.

"_Rhydian!"_ Exasperation overlaid with joy and he blinked away from her face, obediently directing his gaze up, stammering out a "Right, of course, sorry." He could almost hear her roll her eyes.

"_You don't have to be out here with me, you know,"_ she muttered with a wry twist of her lips and he dropped his eyes back to her with a reassuring smile.

"Course I do. No, really," he added at her raised eyebrows, "I do." He flourished a hand, dramatically. "Show me the stars."

Maddy cut him a look, eyes slightly narrowed, lips pressed together resisting a smile. "Fine," she sighed as though reluctant, but he heard the underlying amusement.

"_That's Cepheus."_ She pointed. _"Draco, Lynx, Perseus, Ursa Major and Minor."_ He tried to nod and look like he knew what she meant, that they didn't just look like glittery lights to him. He wasn't convincing enough. Her shoulder barged into his, almost sending him flying.

"Hey!" he protested, his grin matching hers.

"_You are such a bad actor,"_ she jibed shaking her head. He took exception to that.

"No. I just…they're just…"

"_Not your thing,"_ she supplied, helping him out.

"Right," he tilted his head to one side, "You can still like them though."

Now her stance became less friendly and more challenging.

"_As though I need your permission?"_

He raised his hands in mock surrender, not prepared to fight on this one.

" 's not what I meant Mads," and he almost heard the exasperation, the weariness of the she-wolf's father as he sighed _"Alpha females."_

A flutter in his chest caught him off guard, a warmth somewhere inside as he recognised, she was _his_ Alpha female…Not that he'd told her that specifically…

She had turned back to the sky, oblivious to his racing thoughts. _"I really want to see Lupus one day. The Wolf. You can't see it this far North."_

"The Wolf," Rhydian echoed back, his artists mind sketching a wolf running among the stars. "I think I'd like to see that one," and she must have heard the sincerity in his voice because now she looked at him again with a smile of all soft delight that lit up eyes.

Grinning widely, she stuck out a hand. _"Deal."_

"Deal?" he queried.

"_When I go see Lupus,"_ she said it slowly, almost a command, punctuating each word with a head tilt, _"You're coming-with-me."_

His hand wrapped around hers in the darkness, warm skin on skin, marvelling at how natural it felt there.

"Deal."

* * *

In the present loneliness Rhydian tried to spot the constellations she'd mentioned, still only seeing pinpricks of light.

'_We'll find each other.'_

At his foster home his sketch pad lay open to a new drawing, two wolves, loping across the heavens, their paws finding purchase on the inky black, their bodies a mesh of stars.


	3. Never again

_Guest: Can you do a one shot about rhydian finding out that kincaid had maddy and her parents the entire time locked where jana's pack was in the season 3 finale. au prompt_

**A/N This was a difficult one for me to write and keep fairly short. There is more I could have done with it and I might come back to it at another point. I don't think I quite did it justice but hopefully it will be enjoyable anyway. Slight edit to the original prompt, I've had Maddy's parents still get on the boat. Maddy on the other hand…**

* * *

Never again

Rhydian stood in the corridor, feet braced, fists clenched, trying to steady his breathing, trying to keep a leash on the rage pumping through his blood. Somewhere in the grounds he knew the wild pack was getting itself to safety. Somewhere else in the house he knew that Shannon and Tom were searching for the antidote. In his chest was the aching emptiness where his Wolf usually paced, where in moments like this it snarled to be released. Now all was hollow and silent.

In front of him was the cause of all their pain. Kincaid blocked the way ahead, muscles tensed to react but that smug, know-it-all smirk pasted on his face.

"Careful now, Rhydian."

Behind the man, his lackey struggled with someone, trying to hold them still by their shoulders. Shannon had warned that there might be other Wolfbloods in the building. As usual she was right. Unlike Meinir this Wolfblood was fighting. He could hear their building snarl and felt his own hackles raise automatically in response. The unspoken command to attack their enemy instinctively boiling his blood. This was an Alpha.

If there hadn't been so much going on maybe Rhydian would have realised sooner but the stench of fear and screaming instinct to escape as the moon rose (he knew it even if he couldn't _feel_ it) and the walls of the cage closed in negated any anticipation.

Kincaid reached behind, one eye on Rhydian and closed his hand around the captive's arm, tugging them roughly out the grasp of the lackey. They stumbled forward with a yelp strands of brown hair flying across their face, tangling over their eyes as he wrenched an arm behind them. Their lips drew back in a snarl and Rhydian felt his own snarl build in response and then abruptly cut out. His nose recognised her before his eyes, her scent hitting him like a punch to the gut.

"Maddy?" It tore from his throat, ragged, breathless, and she froze, her struggling instantly ceasing as their eyes locked.

"Rhydian?"

The catch in his breath was almost a sob. There was relief and then there was despair. He'd been longing for this, wanting it for so long, desperate to see her face, the ache of loss a constant companion. Not like this though. Not when he couldn't run to her, hold her. His face crumpled in fear, in hopelessness, and hers echoed his for a moment. Then it cleared. Her eyes lightened, lips curling wryly as she said, "Told you I'd find you." There was a smugness, a gloating. His heart lifted, shaking off the despair and right on its heels came the anger. Aimed solidly at Kincaid. His lips drew back in a snarl. His Wolf might be asleep, but it wasn't dead. Not yet. He took a step forward.

"Let go of her."

Kincaid merely smirked, a sneer in his voice. "Or what?" He wrenched on her arm and Maddy flinched, swallowing a gasp of pain. Rhydian halted. Kincaid flickered his eyes between them with a smile like oil.

"You see Rhydian, Maddy here," he tightened his grip and she drew back her lips, cutting her gaze to her captor, looking entirely wild. "Maddy deliberately missed her boat." His tone was wholly reproachful.

Rhydian blinked at her, utter fierce wonder blossoming like fire in his chest and she quirked her eyebrows at him.

"Wasn't gonna leave you behind now, was I?" Her tone was so patronising, so assertive, he almost burst into joyful laughter. If it hadn't been for Kincaid he would have. Even so, he couldn't help the curl of his lips. Her lips twitched in response to his.

Alex scowled at the way they were grinning at each other.

"Of course, that put her entirely at Segolia's mercy." If he was trying to make her feel foolish it wasn't working, Maddy's mouth just twisted in a sneer.

"Still doesn't explain how you got your filthy paws on me though, does it?" She cast a disgusted look behind her, up and down the scientist. "Something not quite right in the head of someone kidnapping young girls."

That hit a nerve.

Kincaid's face contorted in a snarl to rival any Wolfblood.

"You – are – not – human."

He punctuated each shouted word with a shake of her body that made Rhydian see red. His feet moved without conscious thought, but her next words drained away the fury with cold shock.

"Will be soon enough tho' won't I?" She pushed her face closer to their captor's, "and then we'll see." She'd already been injected with the serum. Rhydian's insides trembled. Underneath her bravado he could hear the cold fear, the howl of loss echoing through the darkness, but she was an Alpha and Alpha's did not yield to fear. Kincaid saw through it. His laugh was harsh and mocking.

"Segolia won't risk exposing the secret for you." Roughly he shoved her into his lackey's waiting arms. "Lock her back up. It'll ensure this one's good behaviour."

Maddy's eyes grazed Rhydian's. He didn't need her words; the message was clear. As she disappeared around the corner, he faced Kincaid, hands curling into fists at his side, face setting into lines of a scowl.

"You think holding Maddy hostage will make me do as you say?"

Alex tilted his head with a condescending smirk. "She's your Alpha, isn't she?"

"She is," Rhydian conceded. There was a shout in the direction Maddy had been taken and Kincaid's head snapped around, startled. When he blinked back Rhydian had already halved the distance between them.

"But I'm also hers." His eyes burned through the scientist, rage and fire, and he caught the first whiff of fear. Alex took a single step back. Rhydian coiled his muscles. "And you just separated us."

A howl ripped down the corridor, a war cry, and with a snarl Rhydian launched himself at Kincaid. The scientist screamed. He had no one to hide behind, no one to shield himself with and it didn't matter that Rhydian wasn't in his wolf form, couldn't be in wolf form anymore.

Rhydian though had no interest in the man, except that he was stood between him and Maddy.

Kincaid was knocked to the ground his vision a flash of teeth bared in his face, but the Wolfblood was already moving on before he could react.

Heart hammering in his ears, Rhydian tore along the corridor Maddy had been dragged down. He didn't have time to see her doing the same before they collided in a winded knock of breath that sent them both to the floor. Everything was hair in faces and sobs, arms wrapped around, squeezing so hard it hurt, fists full of clothes, the hardness of the floor at his back, and the softness of Maddy in his arms. Hands touching faces, foreheads pressed together and kissing short, desperate kisses, and laughing but also crying.

"Never again," he vowed once they'd got their breath back, lips in her hair, breathing her in. "I'm not letting you leave me again Maddy."

"Never again," she echoed head on his chest, a smile in her voice. "Human or Wolfblood or whatever it is we are now."

There was no time for a proper kiss. They were on their feet again and standing side-by-side, hands entwined, by the time Alex's cronies were advancing, the pair prepared to do anything to stop being separated again. Fortunately for them there was Shannon, and Shannon was clever, and Shannon was quick, and Shannon had the antidote, and Shannon had Tom close behind with a spare. Rhydian didn't give them time to spot Maddy and freeze, he simply pushed her into the path of the first before barking at Tom to hurry up with the second.

* * *

The moon was full and high, and Rhydian could feel its silvery caress. The antidote had overwhelmed him, the echoing emptiness where his Wolf had been slowly dying was suddenly alive again. The night air was full of the sounds of the pack, snapping and snarling at the base of a tree. The chase had been fun, exhilarating, vengeance a heady scent on the wind but now he stood back, letting the rest have a turn. There were more important things than revenge right now. At his side his Alpha stood, easing the ache he'd felt since they'd had to say goodbye, pressed so close their fur mixed. In the dark it was impossible to tell where Maddy ended and Rhydian began, and he was going to keep it that way for as long as possible.


	4. Its about Maddy

**A/N Set sometime before the season 3 finale.**

* * *

It's about Maddy

"You don't have to go to Canada. You could be an Alpha you know."

Rhydian turned back in surprise. He'd been walking away, heading back home to his foster mother and brothers. The trees around him had turned dark and shadowy as evening drew in. His eyes alighted on Jana in a question, namely why, when he'd spent all day with her, she was bringing this up _now_. The pack leader was watching him with over wide eyes, chest heaving, as though she now regretted her outburst. Her red hair was a flyaway tangle. She was beautiful and wild and fierce, but she wasn't Maddy.

"Sorry?" He quirked an eyebrow at her, lips tilted in a sort of smile, like he couldn't decide if he should be amused or not. Jana took a steadying breath and a step forward. "Maddy's pack already has Alphas, her Mum and Dad."

He frowned a little, confused by her stating of the obvious. "All right. What's your point?"

"Look, I'm just saying, you don't have to go. You could stay here," there was an almost panicked look in her eye, as though she dreaded to hear his answer but couldn't stop herself from asking, "with me." Rhydian's eyes widened marginally. Oh.

Jana tumbled on, words tripping over themselves in a rush. "The pack would accept you as an Alpha. You've already proved yourself to them." Her voice softened, eyes earnest. "You would make a _great _Alpha." He could tell she truly believed that, truly believed in him. She was standing only an arm's breadth away now, and he still hadn't managed to say a word.

"Rhydian?"

Her hand reached out and grasped his, and all he could do was look at it there, tiny in his, and notice all the ways that it was not Maddy's.

"I would be proud to have you as my co-Alpha. The Alpha male. My Alpha male."

Rhydian didn't smile, he just frowned down at her hand in his and gently removed his own. "Jana, you know its not about being an Alpha right?" He looked up at her and met her disappointed gaze. "Its about Maddy." A soft smile stole onto his face without his realising. "I love Maddy."

Jana smiled then, an echo of his own but much more saddened.

"I guessed as much," she forced an upbeat tone, "but I wouldn't be much of a pack leader if I let the best go without some fight."

They both knew it wasn't about that, not really, but for her sake, their friendship's sake, he pretended.

"I'm flattered," he smirked smugly, and Jana rolled her eyes, the tension alleviated.

In the back of his mind Rhydian held onto the image of Maddy, because despite his words, it was about Alphas.

It was about _his_ Alpha, and she was waiting for him


	5. Hallucination

Hallucination

He caught the scent in the van, under the overpowering odor of the meat and the pack (wet fur and fear), a curling wisp of something like steam rising from a mug, as insubstantial as smoke. It was enough for him to lift his head slightly, his body heavy, eyes fighting to shut. Around him the others had already succumbed, a mass of sleeping wolves.

Instinct screamed danger but the drugs wrapped around it, suffocated it and his head was already tilting back, eyes falling shut. The last time he'd felt like this…the last time…he'd not been alone either. The scent curled up again from the floor, perhaps from loose fur lost in the creases of metal. It stirred a memory.

Maddy.

His drug-addled mind placed her among the sleeping bodies and he made as if to reach out.

_"Rhydian." She said it in that way he loved, head tilted slightly to one side, lips slightly quirking at the edges. She was crouched on the floor in front of him._

_"Maddy?" his voice rasped like he hadn't had a drink for hours. He was feeling thirsty. "What are you doing here?" He wasn't sure he'd said it aloud or just thought it. She answered anyway._

_"I've been here the whole time."_

_He couldn't remember why that didn't quite fit, couldn't remember why that made a frown crease his forehead, why his chest ached so fiercely._

_"Maddy." He let go of the confusion, let sweet warmth flood through him. Joy making him smile, fully, completely, like he hadn't for a long time (except he couldn't remember why now…) He reached out to her and she placed her hand in his. It felt strange, insubstantial, not quite right, but the feeling it invoked was real. She had her eyes locked on his and he loved her eyes. Beautiful and expressive and wild._

_"I missed you," he told her, voice breaking slightly, though he couldn't remember why. She smiled, a teasing light in her eyes._

_"Told you I'd find you again."_

His head jerked up as it dropped to his chest. The phantom hallucination vanished. Loss screamed through him, but he couldn't hold onto it. He struggled to keep his eyes open and the thought or memory or dream slipped away, ran through his mind like water.

The heaviness took him.


End file.
